http://www.fmca.com/http://www.balloonfiesta.com/
http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/12-16mar08-perry-ga-rally.html
Since the Rally didn’t start until Monday, on Sunday Corrie headed to “Old Town” to check out the shops & Dan headed out to photograph the eccentric sights of Albuquerque.
The first thing Dan discovered was a statue called - Madonna of the Trail. According to Wikipedia – “this is a series of 12 monuments dedicated to the spirit of pioneer women in the United States. The monuments were commissioned by the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). They were placed along the National Old Trails Road in each of the 12 states the road passed through and extended from Bethesda, Maryland, to Upland, California. Created by sculptor August Leimbach and funded by contributions, the Madonna of the Trail monuments were intended to provide a symbol of the courage and faith of the women whose strength and love aided so greatly in conquering the wilderness and establishing permanent homes. Dedicated in 1928 and 1929, with each of the 12 located in a different state, they became a source of local pride. Through the continuing efforts of local and national groups, all are currently in good condition and on display.” So now Dan has one more thing on his bucket list, drive the road & find all 12 statues!
Dan also drove over to the New Mexico University (Go Lobos!) to check out another site in the USA that claims it is the Center of the Universe. Although it was Sunday & the campus was empty of students, he could not find any free parking; every parking spot was roped off with yellow tape for no apparent reason? Turns out Dan had run into TV production of “The Odds” being filmed on the New Mexico University campus, a TV pilot about a buddy cop show set in Las Vegas. Dan was even asked by one of the crew to “walk through” the next scene as part of the background. But all they were offering was a free box lunch & the scene might take four hours to shoot! So Dan said “no” and headed to the supposed Center of the Universe – a non-descript concrete structure representing the X,Y,Z axis used in engineering & scientific graphing. Definitely not impressive! On the way back to the RV after a full afternoon of eccentric sights, Dan stopped at Bobs Burgers to get a Ranchero Burger. This is an excellent cheese burger with a very spicy yellow chili sauce. Dan saved half for Corrie, figuring that she would not like the spicy chili sauce. Wrong! She inhaled it!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8601342@N03/sets/72157605272220053/
Later Sunday afternoon we saw a truck from Shade Pro mobile RV awning service driving thru the Rally camp area, & decided to stop one and order windshield screens for the front of the RV. After placing our order we headed to the Sandia Casino where we got $40 each to gamble just for joining their Player Club; $20 bucks for the slot machines & $20 bucks for table games. But you have to play all $40 before you can collect anything. So Dan walked over to the nearest blackjack table, bet his $20, won, & walked away with $20 cash. Corrie bet $5 each time, won twice, lost twice, & walked away with $10.
http://www.sandiacasino.com/
Monday morning started three & 1/2 days of the FMCA RV Rally; as we said above, see our Perry, GA, BLOG to learn what these rallies are about. During the Rally Dan discovered a French railroad car from something called the Merci Train (aka Gratitude Train) in 1949. This is another of those small pieces of USA history that is extremely interesting but unheard of. The Merci Train was a French reply to the 1947 USA Friendship Train put together by Drew Pearson. We won’t bore you with the details, but encourage you to check it out on the internet.
Trivia – Why were the French RR cars called 40 & 8’s (think hommes & chevaux)?
Tuesday night Dan headed out to drive Central Ave (aka Route 66) & photograph neon signs. This is one of the original pieces of Route 66 that you can still drive for a long distance. Albuquerque has encouraged the renovation of the classic neon signs, & the installation of new neon signs. In fact, the city has installed neon signs on the bus stops, and a flashing neon sign under one overpass that continually changes color. Before heading back to the RV he got a chili dog & mustard dog at a local favorite - The Dog House. Corrie wasn’t a big fan of either hotdog.
We won’t go into detail about the Rally, but will say that this one was a big disappointment compared to the one we attended in Perry, GA, in 2008, already mentioned in this BLOG. The biggest problem we had was that the RV camp area was 15 miles from the exhibits. We found the FMCA busses inconvenient; & when we drove our Toad, we were often stuck in rush hour! The last thing we will mention is that the economic downturn appears to have significantly impacted the quality of the Rally. There were very few “free” activities as compared to Perry; there appeared to be fewer staff & volunteers to handle things; & many of the manufacturers were there with reduced staffs (and some long time vendors didn’t even show up).Friday morning headed to another RV park to rest for a couple days & recover from the Rally before hitting the road on Sunday, 28MAR. But first we had two pieces of Rally business to finish. First we got our rig weighed at all four wheel positions by RVSEF. Turns out our left front tire is carrying too much weight & we need to address this issue. Second, remember the window screens we had ordered from Shade Pro five days ago? Well, we still hadn’t got them, even after tracking them down two days in-a-row! Finally, Corrie tracked down one of the owners & read him the riot act. So after being weighed, they sent over two of their best & installed our screens. Ours was the last one done before the technicians got to hit the road home to see their families.
Our decision to wait before hitting the road turned out to be even better than planned! By lunch time Friday the Albuquerque area was being blasted by high winds (60mph +) and wind blown sand that reduced visibility on the roads. So we rode it out in the RV, feeling sorry for all those RV’ers who were on the road.
Saturday morning we headed to the Petroglyph National Monument jointly run by the National Park Service & the City of Albuquerque. On the recommendation of the Ranger we decided hike the Rinconada Canyon to view the petroglyphs. It was a very enjoyable two hour hike, but we were glad we did it in the morning. That afternoon Dan & Gumbo took off in the Toad for the Volcanoes section of the National Monument for some offroading. This portion of the Monument used to be open for four wheel drive vehicles. Unfortunately, this is no longer allowed & you must hike the entire area. Even though Dan & Gumbo were disappointed; they know it is better for the environment & they did hike the first three mile section.
http://www.nps.gov/petr/index.htmTrivia – Is it Alburquerque or Albuquerque? What’s the difference between a petroglyph & a pictograph? Why is Albuquerque (or is it Alburquerque?) called the Duke city?
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